As wars end, military gives its trademarks new vigilance

By registering trademarks and issuing cease-and-desist letters, the Pentagon's attorneys are trying to protect their brands from returning soldiers-turned-entrepreneurs.

Photo: Doug Mills / New York Times

WASHINGTON — U.S. Marine G-string underwear. The Starfleet Marine Corps Academy. And the motto from a human resources company: “The Few. The Proud. The Well-Paid.”

Of course, none of those is actually from the U.S. Marine Corps.

As one war has ended and another winds down, enterprising members of the armed services are rushing home to get their piece of the American dream and woo consumers by showing off any affiliation with the U.S. military. As a result, the Pentagon's handful of trademark attorneys have been churning out cease-and-desist letters to try to protect their brands from look-alike logos on products that are not always the image of dignity, including a toilet paper called Leatherneck Wipes.

The Pentagon is playing offense as well. Military attorneys have been running back and forth to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register trademarks for military brands — in part to make sure that the services will get a cut of licensing fees. In the past year, the Marines have been to the trademarks office 68 times for products such as Guadalcanal sweatshirts, meant to evoke the World War II battle against the Japanese, and Tip of the Spear newsletters, named for the motto of the Marine Corps' First Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. There also are “Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body” water bottles, meant to promote, well, general Marine toughness.

The Marines registered only one trademark in 2003 and four in 2008. But as troops came home from Iraq and then Afghanistan, efforts began picking up. In 2010 and the first half of 2011, the Marines registered nine trademarks.

Then Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011, Disney tried to trademark the name SEAL Team Six, and things ratcheted up from there. The Navy immediately fired back at Disney, filing its own trademark for the phrases “SEAL team” and “Navy SEALs,” terms that, the Navy said in its filing, imply membership in a Navy organization.

Still, the berm had been breached, especially with so many servicemen and women returning home and setting up small businesses. In 2012 and 2013, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines all saw a big spike in efforts to use military branding to sell goods and services, military trademark lawyers said.